| |
|
|
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 615
|
|
|
WHEREAS, Proud residents of Crystal City are gathering in |
|
|
Austin on April 10, 2013, to celebrate Crystal City Day at the |
|
|
State Capitol; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Situated in the Winter Garden Region of South |
|
|
Texas, Crystal City was laid out in 1905 by two developers, Carl |
|
|
F. Groos and E. J. Buckingham, and named for the clear waters of a |
|
|
nearby artesian well; by 1908, the town had a post office, a |
|
|
school, and a stop on the Uvalde Railway, and in 1928, it was |
|
|
named the seat of Zavala County; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, From its earliest days, Crystal City was a |
|
|
shipping point for winter vegetables such as onions, carrots, |
|
|
tomatoes, and peppers, and a vegetable cannery was opened in |
|
|
the town in 1932; the first spinach festival was held there in |
|
|
1936 and ran each year until World War II; in 1937, the town |
|
|
erected a statue of Popeye, the spinach-loving cartoon |
|
|
character, across the street from city hall, and it was |
|
|
during this time that the town became the self-proclaimed |
|
|
Spinach Capital of the World; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, During World War II, the Immigration and |
|
|
Naturalization Service took over a camp for migratory farm |
|
|
workers at Crystal City and used the facility to intern Japanese |
|
|
Americans and Axis nationals, many of whom had been residing in |
|
|
various South American countries; at its peak, the camp held more |
|
|
than 3,300 men, women, and children speaking five different |
|
|
languages; the camp was converted to low-cost housing after the |
|
|
war; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The rising power of Crystal City's majority |
|
|
Hispanic population in the 1960s helped increase their |
|
|
representation in city government; in 1967, three Chicano |
|
|
students at Crystal City High School founded the Mexican American |
|
|
Youth Organization, leading three years later to the founding of |
|
|
the Raza Unida Party, which fielded Hispanic candidates for |
|
|
statewide office; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Today, Crystal City continues to be a hub for |
|
|
farming, ranching, and food processing, with the Del Monte |
|
|
Corporation cannery specializing in locally produced spinach and |
|
|
carrots; revived in 1982, the Spinach Festival draws 60,000 |
|
|
visitors to the town every November with such activities as a |
|
|
cook-off, a carnival and parade, and musical performances; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The citizens of Crystal City are working to |
|
|
preserve the best of their past while building a future of |
|
|
ever-expanding opportunity, and it is indeed a privilege to |
|
|
recognize their industry and public spirit; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, |
|
|
83rd Legislature, hereby recognize April 10, 2013, as Crystal |
|
|
City Day at the State Capitol and extend to the visiting |
|
|
delegation sincere best wishes for a meaningful and memorable |
|
|
stay in Austin. |
|
|
Uresti |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
________________________________ |
|
|
|
President of the Senate |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I hereby certify that the |
|
|
|
above Resolution was adopted by |
|
|
|
the Senate on April 10, 2013. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
________________________________ |
|
|
|
Secretary of the Senate |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
________________________________ |
|
|
|
Member, Texas Senate |